


A Matter of Fire and Tired Souls

by Pluviophile of Moonglade (RBLynn)



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Greek and Roman Mythology, Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology Fusion, BAMF Tony Stark, Edwin Jarvis is a good bro, Fluff, Gen, Ho Yinsen Lives, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Immortal Tony Stark, Inaccurate Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark at MIT, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, MIT Era, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Lives, Tony Stark is Hephaestus, Tony Stark-centric, Tony is Hephaestus, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 09:10:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18407552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RBLynn/pseuds/Pluviophile%20of%20Moonglade
Summary: 'It seemed almost funny to him, that the last sounds he would hear would be those of new life. But no, something was wrong. The small body was too weak, the heart wasn’t working properly. The poor child wouldn’t live long.Unless... of course. He could become Anthony. He would live as a human, and the parents would have a child.Except a human mind wasn’t meant to handle the consciousness of an Olympian. He really hoped he didn't end up bursting into flames.'ORExiled and running out of both options and time, Hephaestus uses a last resort to survive and is reborn as Tony Stark.





	1. the departed creature's sake

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a Tumblr post pointing out the similarities between Tony and the Greek god Hephaestus. I’m having trouble finding the original post again, so if you come across it please message me so I can link it here!  
> Please note that the rating, warnings, and tags on this work will be subject to change.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title taken from [this poem](https://www.bartleby.com/113/1113.html) by Emily Dickenson.

The night was quiet. The Stark Mansion, however, was alight with frenzied energy as Maria Stark went into labor. Maria screamed, the maids worried, and Howard Stark cursed his wife's decision to give birth at home rather than a hospital. 

The birth was long and hard on both the mother and the child, but finally, it was over. On May 29, 1974, at 4:23 AM, Anthony Edward Stark was born. He was fragile and wailing, but he was alive. 

Two hours later, Anthony Edward Stark was dead. 

Nobody noticed. Not his mother, not his father, not any of the nurses or maids that had been charged with watching him through the night. Nobody except a dying and desperate god. 

\--- 

Hephaestus was dying. 

It was his own fault, really. He should have known how this was going to end; Zeus never was very patient when it came to rebellion. Especially from him. 

And now here he was. Stripped of his status as a god and left to die in deep space. He still had his powers over fire and forge, but they wouldn’t do him much good in space. At best they could only extend how long it took before he died. Unless... 

He didn’t have the powers of a god any longer, he couldn’t teleport to the corners of the universe as he normally could have, but there was someone else who could. 

He maneuvered his stiff fingers to reach a small pouch he kept on his belt. The delicate shimmering fabric reminded him of the sea. 

_“Hephaestus,”_ Thetis’ voice came back to him, _“if you really must leave Gaia, at least take this. It holds the deepest magic of the oceans.”_

There was enough in here to take him somewhere he could hide from Zeus. He had very few options. There were only two habitable planets he could reach with the magic available to him. 

He could go Asgard, but it was an obvious choice if the Olympians suspected he escaped. His friends there were loyal and powerful but few, and wouldn’t be able to stop Odin if he decided to betray him to Zeus. Odin was difficult to predict when it came to the other realms. No, Asgard was too risky. That left... 

Gaia, the Earth Mother. He could go back there. It was his only hope. None of the other Olympians had been there for millennia, save Poseidon who still checked in on his home domain every few decades. They wouldn’t find him there, not easily, and it was unlikely any of the nymphs or minor gods still there would hand him over, considering they had been all but abandoned by Zeus. 

The only true risk was Poseidon. He had always been friendly towards Hephaestus, even allowed him to live in the ocean after Hera had thrown him from Olympus. But Zeus was his brother and king, even if they often quarreled. Hephaestus honestly couldn’t say if Poseidon would give him up or not. But it was still a far safer option than Asgard. 

He could go, survive. But did he want to? His own mother didn’t want him, his wife had abandoned him. 

But he’d made promises to Thetis and Eurynome. He couldn’t disappoint them. 

His scarred fingers fumbled to open the small bag. He was engulfed in a gentle blue mist. 

_‘Home,’_ he willed it, _‘take me home. Take me to Gaia.’_

A flash of blue, then Hephaestus was falling. 

\--- 

Hephaestus really should have remembered to be more specific. Magic was a finicky thing. He had directed the magic to take him to Gaia, but hadn’t said where, or even to put him on the ground. 

And now he was hundreds of feet in the air. 

This was shaping up to be a really bad day. 

He slammed into the ground, barely able to use a trickle of Thetis’ magic to slow his fall enough that he didn’t leave a huge crater. 

He blinked his bleary eyes. It appeared he had landed behind a large human mansion. He couldn’t move. He was still far more durable than a human, the only reason he had survived at all, but the landing had left his body beaten and his limbs broken. 

He had always been an ugly, misshapen thing, he wondered what Hera would say if she could see him now. The thought was enough to make him chuckle. He regretted it though as the action caused him to choke on and spit up ichor. 

He reached his hand into Thetis’ bag. There was enough left for two human lifetimes worth of small acts of magic, or one major miracle. 

Using a trickle of magic he expanded his senses. There were people in the mansion, lots of people. That was to be expected, in a house so big, but there was more to it than that. Energy surrounded the house, a frantic almost-panic that consumed nearly all the residents. What could prompt such a rush? A death? No, a birth. The house’s mistress had just given birth. A boy. Anthony Edward Stark, he heard them name him. 

It seemed almost funny to him, that the last sounds he would hear would be those of new life. But no, something was wrong. The small body was too weak, the heart wasn’t working properly. The poor child wouldn’t live long. 

Unless... of course. He could become Anthony. He would live as a human, and the parents would have a child. 

Except a human mind wasn’t meant to handle the consciousness of an Olympian. He would have to seal his power and memories, give the body time to adjust and avoid combusting. 

It would be perfect, if only he had the power to do it without burning himself up. Though this body was dying anyway, so what did it matter? 

He prayed to Gaia that this would work. He took a deep breath, searing hot pain took over every cell of his body and – 

The next morning, they found a pile of ash outside the window. Anthony Stark opened his eyes and wailed.


	2. playing with fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jarvis discovers something about Tony and comes to a (wrong) conclusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: has 2 fics I promised to update  
> Me: hasn't updated them in over a year  
> Me: ignores both of them when I finally start writing fanfiction again  
> Friend I promised an update: glares  
> Me: sweats

Anyone who had ever known Howard Stark would admit that he was not father material. He couldn’t understand children and didn’t have the patience to deal with one. He was a drunk and regularly dealt with hazardous materials that he wouldn’t know or wouldn’t care to keep away from a child. 

But Maria wanted a son and Howard needed an heir, so Anthony was born. 

When it became clear that Howard had no real interest in his son and that Maria was to busy wrangling Howard to be a proper mother, it had been Jarvis who stepped up to the task. 

Edwin Jarvis knew better than most how different Anthony was. (Jarvis was the only one who could get away with calling him Anthony anymore; Tony snarled at anyone else who tried.) 

Jarvis wasn’t an expert on children by any means, but he was certain that most weren’t reading almost before they could talk, or building circuit boards at four years old, or seem so content on their own. Edwin had grown fond of his peculiarities. They were so purely Tony that it was hard not to. 

Jarvis had long since learned to expect anything from the young Tony Stark. 

But this was something else entirely. 

There was his five-year-old charge, standing alone and calmly in the kitchen, unaware that the butler was watching from the open doorway. His back was to Jarvis, but Jarvis could still see the flicker of flame. 

“Anthony!” Jarvis cried out. 

Tony spun around, startled. Jarvis caught a glance of an orange ball of fire hovering a few centimeters above Tony’s outspread hands before the child closed them into fists and the flames vanished. His eyes were wide and terrified. 

Jarvis’ mind raced, trying to piece together what this meant. 

“Oh, Tony,” Jarvis knelt so he was at his level, “come here.” 

Tony cautiously approached the butler, and Jarvis wrapped his arms around him. 

“How long have you been hiding this?” 

“‘Few weeks,” Anthony mumbled into Jarvis’ shoulder, “I - I wanted to practice ‘fore I showed you.” 

“Oh?” Jarvis released his hug on the young boy, “Come on then, let me get a proper look at it.” 

Tony was eager to show off his new power and held out his hands in the same position as earlier. Tony stared intensely at his hands, and after a few moments, an orange flame flickered into existence. 

Jarvis gasped, “It’s _gorgeous_ , Tony.” The boy grinned at Jarvis’ praise. His face fell soon after, though. 

“Does dad have to know?” Tony whispered. Something dark twisted in Jarvis’ gut. The thought of Howard Stark finding out his son was a mutant was not a pleasant one. 

“Your father-“ It came out harsher than Edwin had intended. He took a breath to try again in a calmer tone. “Your father doesn’t always have a clear head when it comes to certain topics. It would be best that this is kept between us for the time being, young sir.” Jarvis leveled Tony with a serious look. “For now, at least, you must be very careful not to let anyone else know about this. Do you understand?” 

Tony nodded. “Yeah, okay.” 

“Good. Now,” Jarvis stood and lifted Tony onto his shoulders in one swooping motion, “how about we see about some food, eh?”


	3. that's how the world works

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello Rhodey

James had never been the kind of person who spent every weekend getting plastered at a party. A lot of things could go wrong and he wasn’t going to risk years of hard work on a few hours of mindless fun. But the week had been stressful, and James was glad for the invitation from his lab partner in engineering.

Which is how he found himself with a beer in his hand and music pounding in his head at a party hosted by Mike Chester-or-something.

“God, Chetwood really knows his stuff, eh?” Someone he recognizes from chemistry comments. James voices agreement despite the fact that he doesn’t even know Mike and isn’t really enjoying his party at the moment.

James stays another hour or so before he finally decides to leave. He already has his coat in hand and is almost to the door when he sees the kid.

He looks like he can’t be more than one or two years older than James’ sister, who’s not even out of middle school yet.

The kid is clearly drunk and surrounded by three guys all over twice his size and only half as intoxicated. The sight made James uneasy, but perhaps he would have left it alone if he hadn’t seen douche number three leaning into the kid too closely, one arm casually leaning on the wall preventing an easy escape and the other hand undoing his belt.

James sucks in a breath and prepares for things to get messy. He would never forgive himself if he let this happen to someone who looked to be Jeanette’s age.

“Excuse me,” they don’t notice him so he repeats it, this time grabbing douche number one by the shoulder.

“What is it?” Douche one turns and glares at James.

“Look, leave the kid alone.”

“What, he your brother or something?” Douche two laughs like the idea of a black guy having a white brother is hilarious. James decides to take offense at anything that comes out of these guys mouths.

“Let the kid go.”

“C’mon, look, he wants it, now leave us be.” All three of them are clearly irritated now.

James huffs and throws his hands up as if to say he’s surrendered. Then before they can blink, he throws his jacket at douche one’s face and dodges douche two. He punches douche three in the face, who stumbles back in surprise. Then James is dragging the half-unconscious kid out the door before their brains catch up with them and they realize what’s happened.

“You owe me a new jacket, kid.”

\---

Tony hated his life. Or more specifically, he hated that he had to live with the hangover he had currently woken up to. He groaned and rolled onto his other side, trying to ignore the sunlight that had spilled over his face.

Before he could fall back to sleep, he jolted up with panic. He didn’t recognize where he was. It wasn’t the place Howard had paid for him, and it wasn’t Mike Chetwood’s parents house. He scrambled out of the unfamiliar bed and noted with relief that he was still fully dressed. So, probably not a drunken one-night stand. What had happened then?

The room he’s in is small. It reminds Tony of how he would imagine a grandmother’s room – flower printed wallpaper and rickety old furniture.

Tony slowly creaks open the door makes his way down the hall he finds himself in. He smells something burning. He cautiously peeks around the corner and sees a kitchen.

There’s a guy there, scowling at whatever is cooking on the stove.  
The man sighs and tosses the charred leftovers of whatever it was into a garbage bin before he catches sight of Tony.

“You’re up. Hi.”

“Hi,” Tony returned uncertainty, “would you mind telling me where this is and who you are?”

The man raises an eyebrow. “This is the second time I’ve introduced myself, but I’m not surprised you don’t remember. James Rhodes. This is my place. Well, not my place, the place of a family friend but they’re not here- anyways it’s where I’m staying.” James held out his hand, but Tony decided not to take it and crossed his arms. James took his hand back. “How much do you remember from last night?”

“People, alcohol, loud music, you know the works. Should I take this as we didn’t have sex last night?”

The look on James’ face was nothing short of horrified. “Why- wha- no, no I didn’t have sex with you!”

“Hm. Then why am I here?”

“I- there were guys there, three of them, who were trying to get your pants off.”

“Sounds about right,” Tony mumbles but James heard it anyways.

“This has happened before?” He sounded stricken.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Do you recognize me?” James shook his head. Tony huffed. “You’ll definitely recognize my father. Howard Stark.”

James’ eyes widened. “The largest weapons manufacturer in the United States?”

“That’s the one. Anyways, as people see it I’m only as good as my dick and my father’s money. So.” He spread his hands out as if to say “there it is”.

James frowned. “How old are you?”

“Look, Rhodey-“

“Rhodes.”

“Po-tah-toe. Look, I get it, you’re trying to do the right thing, and- and I really do appreciate your help. But this is how the world works. You do what you have to, and it can get messy. So. Thank you, but I’ll be going now.”

As he spoke, Tony had been backing away towards the door and turned to leave. Before he could leave he felt James grab his wrist.

“Im not gonna stop you from leaving–"

“Really, ‘cause that is not the message I was getting when you grabbed me.”

“-but just, just know you can come here. If that ever happens again, or even if you just wanna- whatever. You can come here. Anytime.”

The look Tony gave him was so lost James just wanted to hug him. “Thanks.” Tony hated the way his voice sounded, small and quiet like a child’s. “I’ll, uh, keep that in mind. I’ll just- I’ll leave now.”

And he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Rhodey to the rescue!  
> It feels so wrong to be calling him James, but Tony hasn't had the chance to give him all those nifty nicknames yet :)  
> I have no excuse for this being late. It's been sitting in my computer for so long and I just kinda forgot about it.
> 
> EDIT 6/9/2019  
> I need feedback. Do you guys think Tony's powers should make an appearance while he's at MIT or in Afghanistan? Comment or message me!


End file.
